A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 brussel sprouts

All of a sudden I like brussel sprouts. Are they hard to grow? -like broccoli? Do they produce a lot for the space?

I grow them and they are easy to grow and are frost tolerant. They are a member of the cabbage family.

They grow on a stock like this:


I have some plants already started.

so do you start them in the spring like regular seeds? I have some seeds for them that I can't wait to start if I can find them! they are REALLY good with melted cheese!! now I want some lol! got any tips for growing them? what to do and NOT to do?

Hi MissJamie - long time no see!

I also grow brussels - they are VERY easy to grow. I start mine indoors in late Feb, otherwise I find they get too long and spindly if started earlier. They don't need too much room, but do usually need to be staked.

Have fun with them!

i treat my sprouts the same as other brassicas, starting them about mid march. i usualy space mine about two foot apart in rows and they give a good yield at that distance. the only thought you need to give realy is when you want them to crop? early mid or late.. i like mine ready for xmas as they often taste better after a couple of frosts! saying that ive had them ready in mid august and they tasted good. one tip is dont plant them in freshly turned soil, because the buttons might blow! they like the ground fairly hard and heel them in firmly that way you should get nice firm buttons i like mine with vinegar n gravey

I'm zone 7, do you know when they can be started outside?

The last time I grew them I used plants from the nursery. This year I am doing them from seed.

Here are mine in the square containers.

When will you put them outside?

In a week or two I am currently building a hotbox, but don't have all the things I need for it.

How many brussel sprouts (on average) would one plant yield?

The ones I grew 2 years ago had probably 25 or 30 per plant. I had 6 plants and 4 of them did very well. I couldn't find any seed last fall, so didn't grow any. (Brussel Sprouts are not very well liked) I had enough for 4 or 5 servings for the wife and me.

They will get 3 or 4 feet high and will last through the winter I was picking sprouts in Feb of last year.

I hope to have a better crop this year.

So, if I get seeds I should start them indoors and put them out after the last frost, and if I get plants put them out after the last frost. We like brussels sprouts a lot.

That is what I am doing this year. I may also start soom right in the garden.

Before I bought plants and tranplanted them.

I just had some with cheese the other night.had proably been 15 years since I had ate them too.I did know they were a cold season crop& think my sis grows um.I did wonder about growin um.I don't guess they'd do good in my heat in the summer.I will watch for transplants though*and get about 4.*

nice to see i'm not the only one useing kitchen pans for drain pans for plants :rolleyes:

I didn't get my brussels sprout planted early enough last year, so I only managed a couple of messes to eat. I'd guess I need to transplant no later than early to mid June here in zone 6, so I plan to start my seeds the last of April or first of May.

Brussel sprouts taste better after they have been exposed to a frost in the fall. Keep them staked during the summer, they get tall and tend to fall over.